In Pennsylvania, Bill Gates is leading the latest investment round into the pioneering cellulosic sugars producer Renmatix as energy giant Total joins in with second investment and a 1 million ton per year license. Gates is the chairman of the Breakthrough Energy Coalition— along with Zuckerberg, Branson, Bezos, Steyer, Khosla, Doerr, and 20 others who […]
Edeniq is torn between two lovers: its current ownership group, which shuffled together a financing this week; and Aemetis, which is supposed to be acquiring Edeniq this year for $23 million. How Edeniq landed in this situation, we’ll endeavor to explain. And we’ll revisit our long-held belief that Edeniq’s tech is, in fact, a Billion […]
Yes, it’s time for voting in the Hot 50. Who will be #1? In Florida, The Digest announced the official opening of voting for the 50 Hottest Companies in the Advanced Bioeconomy. Voting Rules Voting will be open to all registered subscribers of The Digest and invited selectors; this year, votes may also be cast […]
If you’ve been trapped in a sensory deprivation chamber the past few months, or simply tune out anything to do with the European Commission, you’ve probably not noticed that the EU has put itself on a fast-track to limit, if not abandon, first-generation biofuels and focus almost exclusively for its carbon future on advanced biofuels. […]
By Steve Weiss, Co-Founder, Grey Heron venture consulting Special to The Digest Have you ever read articles with fund-raising advice? They have titles like “how to create an elevator pitch” or “the ten slides you need” – and can be very useful. And most of us already know how to show off our technology – the […]
Enzymatically interesterfied conventional soybean oil (EIE), with a little tweaking, could be an effective replacement for partially hydrogenated oils (PHO) in donuts, according to a recent report in the American Oil Chemists Society’s Inform Magazine. A donut deep-frying study carried out by Qualisoy and Stratas Foods LLC compared donuts prepared with a typical PHO soybean […]
Edible food packaging based on the milk protein casein will be on store shelves within three years, according to USDA researcher Peggy Tomasula. Tomasula and her team have already been creating prototype films that could be used to cover foods such as meat and bread. The films look similar to plastic wrap, but are less […]
NEC Corp. says it has co-developed a bioplastic that resembles Japanese lacquerware. Produced using cellulose resin from nonedible plants and a mixture of black coloring agents and refractive organic ingredients, NEC says it will initially target applications in luxury car interiors. The bioplastic is compatible with conventional molding processes and was co-developed with the Kyoto […]
CNH Industrial’s Innovation Group has developed concept autonomous tractors to allow remote deployment, monitoring and control of the machines. Designed to remove the operator from the cab, the new tractors have complete sensing and perception systems, including radar, LiDAR (range finding lasers) and video cameras, to ensure obstacles or obstructions are detected and avoided. An […]
Solegear Bioplastic Technologies Inc. has been granted US Patent 9,416,255 titled “Compositions Comprising Polylactic Acid, Bentonite, and Gum Arabic”. The patent broadly covers the synthesis of bio-based additives along with polylactic acid (“PLA”) to deliver a number of key performance characteristics required for rigid packaging and durable goods applications. This proprietary technology enables Solegear to […]
